The concept is about lifelong training. By investing a lifetime into a skill, you'll become a master at it. Your knowledge will be so profound and complicated that you won't be able to pass it on as a hack. And once you're at the stage of mastery, you perform the skill unconsciously. As an example, samurais fight with swords and there is no time to think during a sword fight. The body and the mind must respond immediately, and this instant response is the result of "shugyō."

Shugyō: attaining mastery to perform a skill unconsciously. 

<figure><img alt="Image for post" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/0*Lt8xDxWtUC4g1bbW" width="785" height="523"><figcaption class="io ip da cy cz iq ir cf b fu ch ci" data-selectable-paragraph="" dir="ltr">Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@kknrynsk_jp?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral" class="cl is" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Ryunosuke Kikuno</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral" class="cl is" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><BLOCKQUOTE>“A thousand days of training to develop, ten thousand days of training to polish.”</BLOCKQUOTE>I think electricity has eternally spoiled us. Think of this little piece of your day which goes relatively unnoticed: you flick a switch, and you have light. In days past, our ancestors would have needed to prepare a fire or at least a lamp for illumination. However, we get this wonder with as little effort as flicking a switch.The ease of this operation may not catch our attention, but it does pollute our expectations — of everything. In the same nature of the light switch, we have a desire for quick life-hacks. We need our two-minute elevator pitch, our six-minute abs, and our sixty-second rice. While the quick rice likely won’t harm us, the life hacks leave us lacking. Our effort to save time, like flipping the light switch, deprives us of the life skill of investing time.In the 1600’s the famed samurai and author <a rel="noopener" href="https://medium.com/mind-cafe/how-the-samurai-dealt-with-stress-and-anxiety-5582a35a9aa5" dir="ltr">Miyamoto Musashi</a> understood this. In his scholarly article “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17511321.2015.1026632" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Reflections on a Katana — The Japanese Pursuit of Performative Mastery</a>,” Professor Agurruza explains although Musashi was famous by the time he was 30 for his sword skills, the samurai admits he truly didn’t understand the practice until he was 50. The professor also notes the congruence between Musashi’s time frame and the famous 10,000 hour rule Malcolm Gladwell cites in his book “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FOR2FKW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Outliers</a>”.Obviously, there is no exact number for mastery; the number isn’t the point. It’s about investing a significant amount of your life into a practice to attain a level of mastery. Life hacks may save you time, but you can’t hack your way to a level of excellence which many of us seek. Our samurai friend, in his existence without light switches, could have explained another path.Musashi likely would have called it shugyō, which professor Agurruza refers to as “eternal skillful striving”. The professor explains shugyō is a lifetime investment in a practice which creates an engrained knowledge and understanding that can’t be passed on in a “hack”. This type of knowledge is so well comprehended, it almost reaches an unconscious understanding. Musashi likely would have called this level of comprehension “mushin”.Modern day philosopher <a href="https://youtu.be/2ABtVOnwHmo" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Alan Watts</a> calls mushin “a state of no mind”. He explains this is beneficial to a swordsman because there isn’t time to deeply think about parrying a blade. The body and mind must respond instantly. However, this idea of shugyō and mushin isn’t only an Eastern or samurai concept. It can also be found in ancient Rome, a famous song recorded by Michael Jackson, and the work ethic and mastery of the Beatles.A famous samurai, a Roman philosopher, the king of pop, and The Beatles — how’s that for a collection?<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">Not Saving, But Investing Time</h1>In Callum Crumlish’s <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1358944/michael-jackson-billie-jean-single-recording-records-thriller-album-interview" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">article</a> in Express, he notes that Michael Jackson’s song “Billie Jean” became one of the best-selling singles of all time. However, most may not have realized how much time Jackson invested in that single song. Crumlish explains Jackson rerecorded the vocal track 91 times. One can only imagine how much effort he put into the rest of the track.Likewise to Jackson’s efforts with “Billie Jean,” The Beatles also invested an incredible amount of time in their musical development. Malcolm Gladwell in “Outliers” explains the band got their start playing strip clubs in Germany. At one point they were playing 7 days a week for 8 hours per shift. According to Gladwell by the time they finally achieved any success in 1964, they performed live 1200 times.<figure><img alt="Image for post" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*v39M8TYpcC8Fg4XYZKy2-Q.jpeg" width="680" height="480"><figcaption class="io ip da cy cz iq ir cf b fu ch ci" data-selectable-paragraph="" dir="ltr">The Beatles Arrive In America February 1964 — Library Of Congress [<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Beatles_in_America.JPG" class="cl is" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Public Domain</a>]</figcaption></figure>It may not have taken 10,000 days to polish as Musashi stated, but it took lots of eternal skillful striving or shugyō to reach the mushin required for The Beatles we know today. So, the fresh-looking faces in the photo above were actually battle-tested veterans of the stage.Similarly, Ryan Holiday in his book “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086H4FGNL/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Lives of the Stoics</a>” mentions the philosopher Seneca. Despite being known as one of the three great stoics, much of his life didn’t embody the philosophy. Seneca became one of the wealthiest men in Rome by serving the tyrant emperor Nero. Moreover, the stoic even unstoicly ignored Nero’s murder of his own mother and family to “protect the throne”.Holiday points out that after years of self-examination and nightly journal writing, Seneca became strong enough to change. He gave his vast property and wealth to Nero and fled. The philosopher also realized his time was limited.He eventually became a victim of Nero as well, facing his death sentence with grace and courage which is recognized to this very day. However, this strength required a lifetime to build, and the poise shown at death came out of the mushin gained from that work. Seneca may be famous for his letters of advice, but there was no quick life hack for his own situation.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">It Can’t Be Explained; Only Felt</h1>When I first started in martial arts fifteen years ago, my instructor could do this magic trick. He’d teach one exercise and it would solve multiple problems. Seriously, he’d teach you one thing for two hours and you could use it to defend yourself in at least three different ways. It was only after many years I realized this wasn’t a trick.It wasn’t magic when I started to do it myself. After doing a specific exercise, I could feel in my body position and muscle movement it could work for a whole different purpose. My instructor had been explaining this to me since I started, but it didn’t sink in until after countless hours and I could develop a certain feel.Oddly enough, now I explain this to new students, and they don’t get it. After at least a year or two of training, you can see them start to “feel it”. The hours of work, shugyō, develops into embedded mastery or mushin. It’s the farthest thing from a life hack, more like an anti-life hack.In our effort to make the world more like a light switch, we focus too much on saving time instead of investing time. Musashi, The Beatles, Seneca, and Michael Jackson didn’t achieve their mastery quickly, it came with great investment and effort over years.The mushin can’t arrive without shugyō; there is no hack or simple fix for this. Productivity and shortcuts are wonderful, but flicking a switch can never help you develop that “feel” I felt in martial arts class. Maybe that’s what Musashi meant when he said he didn’t truly understand his art until he was 50. There is no shortcut to that special feel developed when you invest time.<h1 data-selectable-paragraph="">Mind Cafe’s Reset Your Mind: A Free 10-Day Email Course</h1>We’re offering a free course to all of our new subscribers as a thank you for your continued support. When you sign up using <a href="https://mindcafe.ck.page/fba9da7818" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">this link</a>, we’ll send you tips on how to boost mental clarity and focus every two days.

I think electricity has eternally spoiled us. Think of this little piece of your day which goes relatively unnoticed: you flick a switch, and you have light. In days past, our ancestors would have…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

“A thousand days of training to develop, ten thousand days of training to polish.”

I think electricity has eternally spoiled us. Think of this little piece of your day which goes relatively unnoticed: you flick a switch, and you have light. In days past, our ancestors would have needed to prepare a fire or at least a lamp for illumination. However, we get this wonder with as little effort as flicking a switch.

The ease of this operation may not catch our attention, but it does pollute our expectations — of everything. In the same nature of the light switch, we have a desire for quick life-hacks. We need our two-minute elevator pitch, our six-minute abs, and our sixty-second rice. While the quick rice likely won’t harm us, the life hacks leave us lacking. Our effort to save time, like flipping the light switch, deprives us of the life skill of investing time .

In the 1600’s the famed samurai and author <a dir="ltr" href="https://medium.com/mind-cafe/how-the-samurai-dealt-with-stress-and-anxiety-5582a35a9aa5" rel="noopener">Miyamoto Musashi </a>understood this. In his scholarly article “<a dir="ltr" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17511321.2015.1026632" rel="noopener nofollow">Reflections on a Katana — The Japanese Pursuit of Performative Mastery </a>,” Professor Agurruza explains although Musashi was famous by the time he was 30 for his sword skills, the samurai admits he truly didn’t understand the practice until he was 50. The professor also notes the congruence between Musashi’s time frame and the famous 10,000 hour rule Malcolm Gladwell cites in his book “<a dir="ltr" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FOR2FKW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" rel="noopener nofollow">Outliers </a>”.

Obviously, there is no exact number for mastery; the number isn’t the point. It’s about investing a significant amount of your life into a practice to attain a level of mastery. Life hacks may save you time, but you can’t hack your way to a level of excellence which many of us seek. Our samurai friend, in his existence without light switches, could have explained another path.

Musashi likely would have called it shugyō, which professor Agurruza refers to as “eternal skillful striving”. The professor explains shugyō is a lifetime investment in a practice which creates an engrained knowledge and understanding that can’t be passed on in a “hack”. This type of knowledge is so well comprehended, it almost reaches an unconscious understanding. Musashi likely would have called this level of comprehension “mushin”.

Modern day philosopher <a dir="ltr" href="https://youtu.be/2ABtVOnwHmo" rel="noopener nofollow">Alan Watts </a>calls mushin “a state of no mind”. He explains this is beneficial to a swordsman because there isn’t time to deeply think about parrying a blade. The body and mind must respond instantly. However, this idea of shugyō and mushin isn’t only an Eastern or samurai concept. It can also be found in ancient Rome, a famous song recorded by Michael Jackson, and the work ethic and mastery of the Beatles.

A famous samurai, a Roman philosopher, the king of pop, and The Beatles — how’s that for a collection?

In Callum Crumlish’s <a dir="ltr" href="https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1358944/michael-jackson-billie-jean-single-recording-records-thriller-album-interview" rel="noopener nofollow">article </a>in Express, he notes that Michael Jackson’s song “Billie Jean” became one of the best-selling singles of all time. However, most may not have realized how much time Jackson invested in that single song. Crumlish explains Jackson rerecorded the vocal track 91 times . One can only imagine how much effort he put into the rest of the track.

Likewise to Jackson’s efforts with “Billie Jean,” The Beatles also invested an incredible amount of time in their musical development. Malcolm Gladwell in “Outliers” explains the band got their start playing strip clubs in Germany. At one point they were playing 7 days a week for 8 hours per shift. According to Gladwell by the time they finally achieved any success in 1964, they performed live 1200 times.

It may not have taken 10,000 days to polish as Musashi stated, but it took lots of eternal skillful striving or shugyō to reach the mushin required for The Beatles we know today. So, the fresh-looking faces in the photo above were actually battle-tested veterans of the stage.

Similarly, Ryan Holiday in his book “<a dir="ltr" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086H4FGNL/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" rel="noopener nofollow">Lives of the Stoics </a>” mentions the philosopher Seneca. Despite being known as one of the three great stoics, much of his life didn’t embody the philosophy. Seneca became one of the wealthiest men in Rome by serving the tyrant emperor Nero. Moreover, the stoic even unstoicly ignored Nero’s murder of his own mother and family to “protect the throne”.

Holiday points out that after years of self-examination and nightly journal writing, Seneca became strong enough to change. He gave his vast property and wealth to Nero and fled. The philosopher also realized his time was limited.

He eventually became a victim of Nero as well, facing his death sentence with grace and courage which is recognized to this very day. However, this strength required a lifetime to build, and the poise shown at death came out of the mushin gained from that work. Seneca may be famous for his letters of advice, but there was no quick life hack for his own situation.

When I first started in martial arts fifteen years ago, my instructor could do this magic trick. He’d teach one exercise and it would solve multiple problems. Seriously, he’d teach you one thing for two hours and you could use it to defend yourself in at least three different ways. It was only after many years I realized this wasn’t a trick.

It wasn’t magic when I started to do it myself. After doing a specific exercise, I could feel in my body position and muscle movement it could work for a whole different purpose. My instructor had been explaining this to me since I started, but it didn’t sink in until after countless hours and I could develop a certain feel.

Oddly enough, now I explain this to new students, and they don’t get it. After at least a year or two of training, you can see them start to “feel it”. The hours of work, shugyō, develops into embedded mastery or mushin. It’s the farthest thing from a life hack, more like an anti-life hack.

In our effort to make the world more like a light switch, we focus too much on saving time instead of investing time . Musashi, The Beatles, Seneca, and Michael Jackson didn’t achieve their mastery quickly, it came with great investment and effort over years.

The mushin can’t arrive without shugyō; there is no hack or simple fix for this. Productivity and shortcuts are wonderful, but flicking a switch can never help you develop that “feel” I felt in martial arts class. Maybe that’s what Musashi meant when he said he didn’t truly understand his art until he was 50. There is no shortcut to that special feel developed when you invest time.

Mind Cafe’s Reset Your Mind: A Free 10-Day Email Course

We’re offering a free course to all of our new subscribers as a thank you for your continued support. When you sign up using <a dir="ltr" href="https://mindcafe.ck.page/fba9da7818" rel="noopener nofollow">this link </a>, we’ll send you tips on how to boost mental clarity and focus every two days.

A Samurai’s Anti-Life Hack For Developing Enduring Skill

Shugyō: attaining mastery to perform a skill unconsciously.

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